The Self as Other: Reality, Archive, and the Witness in Three Contemporary Latin American Films

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the strategies used in three contemporary Latin American documentaries that represent the self and appeal to the archive in order to produce an image of the subject. The use of the archive as a source of compensation for a foundational lack places reality in the center of the scene. Given that the films are, principally, documentaries, the individuals that speak are real subjects: they are “people” and not “characters.” Nevertheless, documentary has pushed the boundaries of the genre, problematizing the distinction between person and character and constituting today one of the most innovative territories of contemporary film. By transforming ordinary people into characters, the documentary navigates a border zone between the density of day-to-day life and the fluidity of fiction. As Jean-Louis Comolli put it “it is difficult for the documentary to film human beings without falling into the temptation of rapidly transforming them into film characters” (Comolli, 2007:131). The strategies for the decomposition of the self and the use of both the third person as well as the archive to present a self-image are the focus of my work.

Translated by Jacob Steinberg